Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A verse from Lama Tsongkhapa’s Foundation of All Good Qualities opens this 67-minute commentary, prompting Geshe Pema Tsering to examine why familiar samsaric pleasures function as a door to all suffering. He walks through how to analyze those pleasures by cause, nature, and result, invoking Milarepa’s revulsion toward samsaric happiness as the benchmark for genuine renunciation. The talk then pivots to Śāntideva’s distinction between aspiring bodhicitta (the intention to attain enlightenment) and engaged bodhicitta (acting on that intention), illustrated through the analogy of planning a journey versus stepping onto the road. Geshe Pema Tsering unpacks verses 17–19 to show why engaged bodhicitta generates a ceaseless stream of merit even during sleep, then closes with the Buddha’s encouragement, drawn from the Sūtra Requested by Subahu, for practitioners tempted to retreat to personal liberation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 04 26 Bodhisattvas Way of Life.mp3
UUID: 0057e03f-0d6d-4de2-8399-2f8260bde69b
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2005 Mar -2007 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2005-04-26
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 67.2 minutes
Words: ~5,433
Yeah. When I get old, I’ll Uh-huh. I would have to be like you. Okay, so In English. Yeah?
In English. Yeah. Yeah. No. No.
No. It’s only on Thursdays. So page twenty in the in the next section here. Yeah? The teaching prayers.
Yeah. Foundation of All Good Qualities, Lama Tsongkhapa said, seeking samsaric pleasures is the door to all suffering. They are uncertain and cannot be relied upon. Recognizing these shortcomings, please bless me to generate the strong wish for the bliss of liberation. So, samsaric pleasures, the things that we are are the things that we are consider you generally consider to be worthwhile and the things that we are generally consider to strive for in our lives.
Like things that we feel are going to make us happy for us in the short term and even in a longer term in our in our lifetimes. So these things that we strive for by striving for them are actually creating the causes for the experience of suffering in Samsāra. So these Samsāra pleasures, these things that we consider as pleasurable or things that we think will make us happy actually act as a door to us experiencing more suffering. And even the reason for this is that they change. They may start off as being, an experience of happiness for us, but they are unreliable.
They don’t continue. Those experiences don’t continue on. At some point, they change. The causes for experiencing happiness disintegrate and we again experiences their suffering. And so because they are changeable by their nature, they’re said to be, still an instance of the truth of suffering and they can’t be relied upon.
We can’t rely on, the happiness we experience in Samsāra because it too quickly changes and when it does change then we again experience suffering. So recognizing this, this is the shortcomings of Samsāra, recognizing that there is no true happiness to be found in Samsāra, that the experiences that we have in Samsāra, if they are if they do make us feel happy, only do so for a very limited amount of time. So when we recognize this, then we will try and seek liberation. We’re trying to achieve nirvana when we recognize that there really isn’t anything to strive worth striving for in Samsāra, then we’ll seek, to, get out of Samsāra to attain nirvana. So this is why the last line says, please bless me to generate strong wish for the bliss of liberation.
So even though we may have a general idea of this, the problem we find ourselves experiencing is that without truly recognizing the faults of Samsāra, we don’t recognize the happiness of nirvana. And without recognizing the true happiness we would experience in nirvana, we don’t understand how faulty Samsāra is. The two, an understanding of both, go hand in hand. It’s only by comparison to nirvana that we understand the faults of Samsāra and it’s only by comparison to Samsāra that we understand that nirvana is true happiness, the cessation of suffering. So, we may have a general idea of this.
We may be thinking, but I’m a Buddhist and I go for refuge and I seek liberation and I seek to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. We may be thinking this and we may be trying to habituate ourselves to developing this idea, but until we recognize just how disgusting saṃsāra is, we’re not gonna get out of saṃsāra. Until we accept that saṃsāra, the things we consider happiness in Samsāra are actually things that cause us suffering and intense suffering for since beginning-less time, then we’re not going to want to get out of Samsāra. So the problem is, I guess I said from the perspective that he sees it, the problem isn’t so much that we don’t, have some inkling of the idea of nirvana or some understanding of, wanting to get out of Samsāra. It’s that not understanding that idea thoroughly enough or clearly enough, we get sucked into or caught up in the things that seem more pressing to more the things that we consider more important in the short term.
So we think, it’s not really okay for me to give up the work that I need to do in order to establish myself in a good life to experience happiness in my in this life. And so because we’re concentrated on doing working a lot to set ourselves up to make ourselves feel happy in this lifetime, we don’t have a lot of time to practice Dharma, right? And by focusing on setting ourselves up for this lifetime, then we don’t that interferes with our practice of Dharma, right? And the way that we think about it is well, I’d really like to practice Dharma, but I can’t really give up all these things that I need to do. Yeah.
And we’re more interested in the things that we need to do than the practice of Dharma. And if we came down to it, we don’t usually think well, the things I need to do are actually interfering with my Dharma practice, which is probably more important, but we tend to think of it the other way. So the things that we need to do, it take precedence over the practice of Dharma. Right? And those things that we need to do, if we look at the motivation for doing those things, it’s to make ourselves more comfortable.
It’s to make ourselves better off. Right? And so basically, means the things we need to do are the things that establish us more in saṃsāra. Alright? They they create saṃsāra again and again and again.
So the things that we need to do, the work we feel like we have to do interrupts our Dharma practice and our Dharma practice very rarely interrupts the things that we need to do. So, no matter how much meditation we do, no matter how much, many different practices or visualization or prostrations or offerings that we do. Until we’re doing these things with that understanding of what Samsāra is, we’re not going to get out of Samsāra. Until we understand how faulty Samsāra is, how it is an experience of suffering how the things that we consider to be true happiness in Samsāra aren’t happiness. Until we understand that no matter how much meditation we do, matter much practice we do, we’re not going to get out of Samsāra.
Right? And this understanding of the faults of Samsāra, we know when we’ve got that, when we experience the positive aspects of Samsāra, the things that we usually consider, to be happiness, the the pleasures that we have, the worldly pleasures that we have. If we experience them in the same way that we experience manifest suffering, then we know that we’ve developed the mind of renunciation. So we know where if we experience an illness tomorrow or the next day or if we feel discomfort or pain in some way, then instantly we have this reaction, I don’t want to experience this. I want to do everything I can to stop this experience of pain to get out of this situation.
Yeah, feel very compelled to get out of that experience of pain, to stop that experience of discomfort or pain. Now, if we have the same reaction to the entirety of Samsāra, the things that we were considering as pleasures, if we have the same reaction to those as we do to an illness or pain, that’s when we know when we’ve generated renunciation. Because in actual fact, the experiences, the so called happiness of Samsāra is by its nature just much suffering as those experiences of pain and those experiences of illness. Okay. So we need to familiarize familiarize ourselves with this idea and to keep if we sorry.
If we wanna get out of Samsāra, if we wanna attain nirvana, then we need to familiarize ourselves with this idea that, these things that we hold on to as being, pleasures in Samsāra aren’t actually true pleasures. Now the way that we can familiarize ourselves with this is by looking at their cause, their nature and their result. So the cause of saṃsāra happiness is karma delusions. We experience the pleasures of saṃsāra because we had a at least, ignorant mind. They are by their nature suffering because they don’t last and their results is also suffering because we grow attached to them and as we are attached to them, we do things to try and achieve them which and if we do anything based on the mind of attachment, then the results of that are suffering.
So by their cause, by their nature and by their result, they are in fact suffering. Right? And if we were able to familiarize this ourselves with that thoroughly, then we’ll act like or we’ll develop an understanding the same as Milarepa did. That’s the suffering of the happiness of saṃsāra is actually like poison, like a truly truly suffering and he developed a fear of the happiness of Samsāra, Samsāra happiness and did everything that he could to get away from that from from Samsāra. And if we develop that as much of a stronger version to the the good bits of saṃsāra as we now have to the bad bits, then we’ll have the, the ability to to try and get out of it.
So, if we want to develop this ability, if we want to develop the ability to attain nirvana, to experience the true happiness of liberation from suffering, as opposed to the fake happiness of saṃsāra, then we need to develop a really clear understanding of the nature of the, so called happiness that we think that we experience in saṃsāra. So if we keep looking at it again and again and we meditate on its nature, we meditate on the fact that these happiness don’t last, that we become attached to this happiness, that their causes are tainted, and they cause their cause is ignorance. If we meditate on this again and again and again and again, then we’ll develop a clear understanding of it and through that clear understanding of of the nature of these of this suffering of change, of this the happiness of saṃsāra. Through that understanding then we’ll we’ll understand the faults of saṃsāra, have a revulsion for Samsāra and seek to get out of it, seek to to attain nirvana. So in this way if we use the experiences that we may have, as pleasurable in Samsāra as a reason or a basis for our meditation on the faults of Samsāra, then the pleasurable experiences that we have in Samsāra are actually helpful to us.
If we don’t use the pleasurable experiences that we have in Samsāra to look at their nature, to, understand their faults, then they aren’t helpful to us. They just act as a further cause for us to be ensnared in Samsāra. So, if we recognize this, if we recognize the faults of saṃsāra, we recognize that the only way that we’re going to actually attain true happiness is to get out of and achieve liberation. And then that leads us on to, then that’s the sorry, that’s the mind seeking, personal liberation. But if we, take a wider view and we look at things from a broader perspective, then even if we developed this way of thinking, we’re only doing it from the perspective of We’re only doing it for the benefit of one person that being ourselves.
And if we think about how important we are, consider compared to all other beings, then we’re not that important. We’re one person and all other beings are all other beings. And so, and working for the liberation of one person is hardly as important as working for the liberation from suffering of all beings. So, if we then think, how can I lead all sentient beings out of suffering in order to lead them out of suffering, in order to lead them beyond the experience of saṃsāra, I need to first become a Buddha? So in order to lead all sentient beings out of suffering, I first need to become a Buddha.
And this is the the mind of enlightenment, the bodhicitta, and the a good motivation for for doing anything. So, please meditate on that for a couple of minutes. So, for the benefit of all in order to help all sentient beings? Okay. So this evening, the bit we’re up to is about, bodhicitta, and in particular, the distinctions between the two different types of bodhicitta.
That is engaged bodhicitta and aspiring bodhicitta. So in verse sixteen of the first chapter of the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Śāntideva explains this distinction by way of an analogy. So in verse sixteen he says: Wishing to depart and setting out upon the road, this is how the difference is conceived. The wise and learned thus should understand this difference which is ordered and progressive. So basically this means that before we’re going to go somewhere, we have to have the intention to go there.
Alright? We have to make preparations to go and we have to develop a clear wish to go somewhere, right? So this is like aspiring bodhicitta, yeah. The intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Now engaged bodhicitta is like setting out on the road.
So that means actually engaging in the activities that will lead us to enlightenment. Okay. Right. So, if we are sitting on a corner, a corner, a cushion, sorry. If we’re sitting on a cushion and we decide that we want to go somewhere, then there is the main intention of going somewhere.
That’s the main thing that’s our intention. But in order to go somewhere, to have the intention to go somewhere, there’s lots of other thoughts that may come in our head that would go with a company that main intention. Alright. So if we think, have to I want I’m If we’re sitting on a cushion and we think, I’m gonna go over there, then we’re not just thinking I’m gonna go over there. We think in order for me to get over there, I need to lift my legs up, I need to stand up, I need to move my legs, I need to walk over in that direction.
So there’s all these thoughts that accompany the main idea of going over there. Yeah? Because our body doesn’t just get up and go by itself. There has to be an intention behind it. There has to be an idea of getting up and going.
Right? You have to have a you have to have thought about it. You can’t just you can’t just do it without having any thought. Our body doesn’t have autonomy in that way. So we have the main idea of getting up and going and then we have the accompanying idea of moving our legs, straightening up and using our legs to walk.
Alright, so all of those, different types of thoughts are said to be aspiring the analogous to aspiring bodhicitta, right? So there is this idea we have, I want to attain enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings, right? That’s the mind of enlightenment, the bodhicitta. But along with that, we may also think, now in order to bring that about, I need to practice kindness, I need to practice generosity and ethics and the other six perfect the other four of the six perfections. Right?
So all those ideas of this is what I have to do is aspiring bodhicitta. Now, if we then were to stand up from our cushion here, to actually engage in that action and start walking to where it is that we wanted to go, that’s what you call that that action is analogous to engage bodhicitta. So the first time then we actually do something that’s going to be a cause for us to become Buddhas is when we start practicing engaged bodhicitta. So up into that point, what we have is aspiring bodhicitta and after we actually engage in an action, it becomes engaged bodhicitta. And then you may notice that these two things come together, right?
In order for us to move to the other side of the room, get up off the cushion and move to the other side of the room, we have intention to do that and we have to do it. The two things work together. They don’t usually occur separately, right? So to have a clear intention, I’m going to get up and walk to the other side of the room, you get up and walk to the other side of the room. And you don’t get up and walk to the other side of the room without the clear intention that you’re going to do it.
And it’s the same thing with with engaged and aspirational bodhicitta. The two things come together. Okay. So Kamalaśīla explained the distinction between these two things by saying that the thought to reach enlightenment that is accompanied by activity, by actual activity is engaged bodhicitta. And the thought to reach enlightenment that isn’t accompanied by actual activity is aspirational bodhicitta.
Right? Uh-huh. Okay. So, that was like explained, that verse explained the nature of engaged and aspiring bodhicitta by way of analogy. In the next verse, Śāntideva goes on to explain the benefits of engaged and aspiring bodhicitta.
Okay. So in terms of the benefits of aspiring bodhicitta, then in the sūtra that’s entitled the liberation of the Ārya Maitreya. Sorry. I don’t know if it’s the Buddha or Buddha Maitreya or Buddha Buddha Buddha Shakyamun. Hang on.
So as the title of this sūtra is the liberation of the Buddha of the Ārya Maitreya, I was a little unsure as to who was saying this. Alright? And Geshe-la said, it’s the Buddha. If there was no Buddha, there wouldn’t be no Maitreya. So it has to be the Buddha.
Anyway, so he said it’s the description of how the Buddha helped Maitreya. Anyway, so Buddha Śākyamūni says in in the description of the liberation of the Ārya Maitreya, he says, son of the lineage. So that means son of the Mahāyāna. He says, it is by way of analogy, it is like this. The in in the same way that a diamond outshines or can destroy gold jewelry, and in doing so, outshines or no.
In the same way that a diamond can destroy gold jewelry and therefore outshines or eclipses the gold jewelry and worth, so the bodhicitta, the aspirational bodhicitta because it has the ability to get rid of all suffering in Samsāra outshines all other qualities, all the other qualities of the hearers and solitary realizers. So therefore because of its great value strive intensely to develop this mind. So in this analogy then, the Buddha is explaining that in the same way that a diamond, if you smash if you use a diamond, you can actually smash up gold jewelry. Alright. Now, in general, when we think about gold jewelry, we hold that to be, pretty important and pretty resistant to being cracked and everything.
But as a diamond is actually harder than gold jewelry, we can use it to if we so wish we could use it to smash up gold jewelry, to destroy gold jewelry. And so it’s it’s using this the the ability of diamonds to do this as an analogy for what the mind of enlightenment of enlightenment is able to do to the negative states of mind and even the positive qualities that we may develop on an individual in the individual vehicle, in the vehicle of individual liberation. So here Buddha is explaining the qualities of bodhicitta saying it is the most precious, mind that we can develop because it leads to the extinguishing of suffering or the cessation of suffering of not only our own suffering, but the suffering of others. Uh-uh. So that means basically that it’s very important.
So in order for us to understand just how important bodhicitta is, we need to understand exactly what they it is being compared to here, what is it is out shining here. So arhats or solitary realizers are beings who have from have completely gotten rid of all of their destructive or negative states of mind or emotions completely. They don’t experience any instance of suffering because they have completely destroyed their negative states. And having completely destroyed their own negative states, they don’t experience an instance of suffering. And Bodhisattva is said to even outshine to be able to eclipse even that realization.
Now, the reason that it’s able to eclipse or outshine that realization is because it is this idea of working for others and not just for ourselves. So, if we are struggling to rid of our own negative states of mind and that’s a hard enough job, we may become, discouraged and think forget about trying to help other people, I’m having a hard enough time helping myself. I think I’m just gonna go for nirvana and forget this Buddhahood stuff. Right? And so we may be discouraged and start thinking in this way and bodhicitta is the mind that or the way of thinking that smashes that the mistaken concept.
That it’s okay just to go for our own, liberation. Yeah? Not it’s it’s the it has the ability to eclipse and obliterate even those those types of minds, those those thoughts. So we’re talking about if we’re if someone’s saying, I’m gonna go for my own liberation, that’s still renunciation from saṃsāra. It’s still a it’s an amazing achievement.
Yeah. But bodhicitta even outshines that. So this is why it’s like into a diamond that outshines gold jewelry. The gold jewelry by itself is important, but the bodhicitta is even stronger and even more, even more powerful in what it enables people to achieve. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Okay. So that’s that shows us how important bodhicitta in intention or aspirational bodhicitta is. But in the next verse, which is verse number seventeen of the first chapter, Śāntideva goes on to say: bodhicitta in intention rich fruit for those still wandering in Samsāra, and yet a ceaseless stream of merit does not flow from it, for this will arise alone from active bodhicitta or engaged bodhicitta. So what this is saying that we’ve just talked about the positive qualities of aspirational bodhicitta or bodhicitta in intention.
But even this isn’t as strong as the the action or the activity of engaged bodhicitta, when we combine this wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings with actions or activity that will bring that result about. So what this when it says, and this and yet a ceaseless stream of merit does not flow from it, for this will rise alone from active bodhicitta or engage bodhicitta. Now, what this that’s talking about is that if we have engaged in the way of a Bodhisattva, right? If we’ve been if we’ve entered the path of a Bodhisattva I’m just Hang on. I was thinking, can I say that?
Because it’s like past usually has a different word. But this this Geshe-la used this term, which actually means entering into the behavior of Bodhisattvas, which doesn’t translate very well into English. It sounds a bit dodgy. So that’s why they’ve translated it as the way of the Bodhisattva. Right?
So if we engage in the, even the behavior of Bodhisattva, if we start behaving like a Bodhisattva, alright? That’s what engaged Bodhisattva is, doing everything that that you do, that a bodhisattva does in order to attain enlightenment. Now, if someone starts behaving like that, that means that every single one of their thoughts, every single one of their physical or verbal actions, everything they do of their in their everything they think, everything they say, and everything they physically do is a cause for attaining Buddhahood. And so when you engage in active bodhicitta, that’s what we’re talking about. Everything that you, think, say, and do becomes a cause for attaining Buddhahood.
So this means when people are asleep, they’re working to attain Buddhahood. When they’re doing doesn’t look like they’re doing much, they’re working to attain Buddhahood. And so this is why it said then that, this ceaseless stream of merit comes about through engaged bodhicitta. Because whatever a bodhisattva who’s engaged in the activities of a bodhisattva is doing is leading them towards Buddhahood. So it’s called a ceaseless stream of merit.
Okay. So then, the next two verses which are verse eighteen and nineteen, I’m going to explain the benefits. I go into more detail of the benefits of engaged bodhicitta. So in these, the Śāntideva says, for when with irreversible intent, the mind embraces bodhicitta willing to set free the endless multitudes of being at that instant, from that moment on, a great and unremitting stream, a strength of wholesome merit, even during sleep and inattention, rises equal to the vastness of the sky. So Geshe said this is what he was talking about before, he was talking about in the previous verse as well.
This idea that as soon as someone starts engaging in the activities of a Bodhisattva, as soon as someone enters the way of of the Bodhisattva, then everything they do, everything they say, everything they think becomes a cause for them to become enlightened. Alright. And then, the two bits, it says everything. So even when they are asleep or inattentive, this happens. So they may not be paying attention to what they’re doing or what’s happening, but they’re still their motivation is still to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
And I said, That sounds good because I’m very good at being inattentive. And Geshe-la said, Yes, yes, this would be very good for you because it says inattentive and sleep. And asleep. So he said, you just could be inattentive and asleep and still be heading towards Buddhahood. He said it’d suit you.
Okay. So whoever has this mind of engaged bodhicitta is working to liberate all sentient beings who are said to be as vast as the sky. Sorry. I just directly translated that from Tibetan, and I realized it sounds like you’re saying, each sentient being being who’s so huge, they’re as big as the sky. And so I said guess what it sounded like.
Was saying all sentient beings are really fat, and that’s not what I meant. So I guess there’s the there’s an expression expression in Tibetan that says, sentient beings as vast in numb it doesn’t translate. Sentient beings, it’s it’s as vast in number as the sky, but it means as vast in number as the sky is vast. Does that make sense? The number’s as vast as the sky.
Right? So, yeah, it’s a bit complicated. So so so that kind of that’s the amount of beings that you’re working order to benefit. And you’re not just working in order to benefit them in a vague way, you’re working in order to lead those beings out of saṃsāra, out of suffering and establish them beyond saṃsāra in a true happiness of liberation. And in this way, you’re working to stop or turn around the causes for saṃsāra.
You’re working to cease the truth of the origin of suffering. So, in this way, engage bodhicitta as it’s going to benefit, sentient beings, the vast number of sentient beings, then it its benefits are said to be unimaginable because, if there’s sentient beings as vast in number as the sky is vast, then that means the benefits for each and every individual sentient being is incredibly vast and if you have a vast amount of vastness then it’s incomprehensible for the mind. And this is the way that, engaged bodhicitta actually benefits us. Now, aspirational bodhicitta is also said to be beneficial as it acts as an inspiration for engaging in the activities of a Bodhisattva, but it’s not said to be anywhere near as beneficial as engaged bodhicitta. Because although aspiring bodhicitta has this is the intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, it’s not actually doing anything about it.
So while the intention is there to do it, aspiring bodhicitta by itself can’t actually achieve anything. Alright. So you may have the intention of attaining bodhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, but you’re not doing anything about it. Yeah. So the difference between aspiring bodhicitta and engaged bodhicitta is said to be incredibly vast as well.
While aspiring bodhicitta is good, it’s nowhere near as beneficial as engaged bodhicitta because it’s only engaged bodhicitta that actually brings results. Alright. So if you are able to take the engaged Bodhisattva vows and keep them, then, that that the work that you do while you’re keeping the engaged Bodhisattva vows is said to be so enormously beneficial that it’s hard to comprehend the benefits of, keeping those vows. Alright. So, in the next verse, Śāntideva goes on to explain by using scriptures how beneficial the development of bodhicitta is.
So, in this section where he describes the reasons for developing bodhicitta, he does so first by scriptures and in the next, verses goes on to, establish the benefits or explain the benefits of developing engaged bodhicitta especially by using reasoning. So he uses first scripture and then reasoning. So the verse in which he uses scripture to explain as to he uses scripture to show how important the development of engaged bodhicitta is, says, this is this the Tathāgata in the Sūtra requested by Subahu said with reasoned demonstration teaching those inclined to less paths. So what he said was that Bodhisattva the benefit he explained the benefits of bodhicitta, especially engaged bodhicitta as compared to just the benefits of aspiring bodhicitta. Because what can happen is there’s two different types of Bodhisattva.
There’s those who are called Bodhisattva as sharp faculties and those that are called Bodhisattva with dull faculties. Now Bodhisattvas with dull faculties can develop aspirational bodhicitta and never actually go on to start engaging in the path of a Bodhisattva. Never actually engage in the activities of a Bodhisattva and get distracted by the easiness of personal liberation and give up on attaining Buddhahood. So they can develop bodhicitta and then lose it. Yeah?
And they can do it a lot of times before they actually get develop engaged bodhicitta and start actually behaving like a Bodhisattva instead of just having the intention to. Alright? So Bodhisattvas with dull capacities can do this many many times until they actually get it. So it seems as if the Buddha here is actually encouraging these these types of Bodhisattvas. Now the Buddha here is saying to Bodhisattvas who have managed to develop aspirational bodhicitta but haven’t yet engaged in the activities of a Bodhisattva how important it is, how vastly beneficial it would be to work for the benefit of all sentient beings, to leading all sentient beings out of suffering as opposed to just working to liberate themselves from suffering.
So when it says teaching those inclined to lesser paths, it means teaching those who may be influenced or may be tending towards giving up bodhicitta and working towards their own liberation. Okay. So in this sūtra, the Buddha was explaining the benefits of the in the sūtra requested by Subahu, the Buddha was explaining the benefits of bodhicitta, specifically for those who had developed aspirational bodhicitta but had a tendency to focus on their own liberation above their liberation of others and were therefore in danger of having their bodhicitta disintegrate and ending up following the paths of hearers and solitary realizers and only working to attain their own liberation. So in this Sūtra, the Buddha spends a lot of time explaining just how beneficial bodhicitta is, how beneficial engaging in the activities of a Bodhisattva are and the results that can be attained through engaging in those activities. And so through explaining the benefits of engaged bodhicitta in this way, he was working very hard to stop them from falling into the motivation of the lower vehicles and losing their bodhicitta which was still fragile at that stage.
Okay. So we can stop there for this evening.